Scotland’s Real Heroes shortlist announced

The Social Bite, Edinburgh Uni’s Best Buddies and veteran fundraising champion Tom Gilzean among those up for awards

Today, a shortlist of Scottish heroes has been unveiled ahead of the third series of RBS: Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes on STV to recognise people who have dedicated their time to local communities across Scotland.

A judging panel including John Boyle, chairman of Hamilton Portfolio Ltd and Motherwell FC, Managing Director of Branch and Private Banking in Scotland at Royal Bank of Scotland, Chris Wilson and Michael Shanks, member of the 77th Disabled Scout group which took home the RBS Young Real Hero of the Year award last year, gathered to narrow down the nominations received for this year’s show.

Elizabeth Partyka, fellow judge and deputy director of channels at STV said: “The series is a great opportunity to shine a light on people working tirelessly in communities to help improve the lives of others. We have seen an overwhelming response to this year’s call for nominations across Scotland and there are some truly inspiring stories to be told.

“The shortlist of nominees will be visited by our celebrity reporters throughout the show and it will be over to STV viewers to vote for the nominees they believe most deserving of an award.”

The series, presented by Carol Smillie and sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland returns to STV later this year. This year’s shortlist includes deserving Scots from all across the country.

Categories including Community Project of the Year and Hero Animal of the Year will return again this year as well as two new additional award categories including Hero Mum or Dad and Fundraiser of the Year. The overall winners will be voted for by the public and will be announced at a glittering, star studded televised awards ceremony later in the year.

Chris Wilson, Managing Director of Branch and Private Banking in Scotland at Royal Bank of Scotlandsaid: “It is a real honour to be part of the judging panel again this year. It’s important to celebrate the people that make a real difference in our local communities – especially those who would otherwise go unrecognised – and I think that every person on the shortlist is a deserving winner. Everyone at The Royal Bank of Scotland is getting behind the series again this year and we are all looking forward to finding out more about the finalists when the series airs later this year.”

And the nominations are ….

RBS: FINDING SCOTLAND’S REAL HEROES SHORTLIST

Community Champion

Ashley McIIvenny (Include Me 2); Barrhead, Glasgow
John O’Byrne (The John O’Byrne Foundation); Bellahouston, Glasgow
Jessie Douglas (Richmond’s Hope); Niddrie, Edinburgh

Sporting Volunteer of the Year

Carol Jones (Kelvingrove Community Tennis Club); Kelvingrove, Glasgow
Gregor Gardner (Azami Falkirk Judo Club); Hallglen, Falkirk
Janice Millar (Kilmarnock Harriers); Darvel, Ayrshire

Hero Neighbour of the Year

John O’Hara; East Glasgow
Donna Fitzpatrick; Fullerton, Irvine
Margaret ‘Mum’ Miller; Springboig, Glasgow

Fundraiser of the Year

Liz Smillie; Prestwick
Tom Gilzean; Edinburgh
Linzi O’Neil; Fife

Community Project of the Year

Paragon Music; Glasgow
The Social Bite; Edinburgh
The Coming Home Centre; Glasgow

Hero Mum or Dad

Pappinder Singh, Leith
Susan Hunter, Penicuik
Vicky Walker, Nairn

Scotland’s Real Heroes Courage Award

Allison Barr, West Calder
Paul Surgeon, Kirkintilloch
Suzanne Davies, Stonehaven

Carer of the Year

Karen Anderson (Carers United); Evanton
David Forbes (Future Choices); Aberdeen
East Kilbride Dementia Carer’s Group; East Kilbride

Young Real Hero of the Year

Leah-Grace Kean; Baillieston, Glasgow
Lee Falconer; Maryhill, Glasgow
Best Buddies Edinburgh

Hero Animal of the Year

Damson the Dog (Canine Partners): Slateford, Edinburgh
Jewel the Pony (Ravelrig RDA): Ravelrig, Edinburgh
Spike the Dog (Hearing Dogs for Deaf People): Cupar, Fife

For more information, visit www.stv.tv/realheroes or get involved on Twitter #scotlandsrealheroes or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/scotrealheroes.

Hope yet for Canonmills campaigners

‘It ain’t over ’til the big ball swings!’ – Save 1 – 6 Canonmills Bridge campaigner Gemma Kicks

Canonmills campaigners achieved a partial victory yesterday when councillors from across the political spectrum called for a full public hearing to take place to discuss controversial plans to demolish buildings on Canonmills Bridge – a conservation area.

The hearing will take place on 26 August.

Campaigners will use the stay of execution to gather more support in the fight to stop the demolition. A spokesperson said: “Two key reasons for the agreement to the hearing was the positioning of the site which sits on the border of two council wards (wards 5 & 11) and two community council areas. It was therefore felt appropriate that councillors from these areas should be given a chance to share their opinions. The second reason being the vast amount of representations.”

The Save Canonmills Bridge campaign has attracted considerable public support since it was launched six weeks ago. Campaigners have gathered over 1600 signatures during weekend information stalls on the bridge at the weekends, a Facebook campaign has attracted 1228 followers and nearly 4000 people have added their support through an online petition.

The petition was presented to the committee yesterday.

In a statement, the campaign team said: “We have encountered unified support from across the local community (people of all ages and political perspectives), also from regular and occasional visitors to the area.

“We can’t overstate how much the area around Canonmills Bridge junction means to locals, pedestrians on their way to work or the Botanics, and to those frequenting the Water of Leith. We have been heartened by the repeat visits for progress updates and in encouragement to our stall.”

Campaigners shall now be gathering to agree their next moves, but it seems certain that the group will step up the campaign to ensure wider awareness of the development being proposed and to gather wider public support.

As local resident Gemma Kicks said: “It ain’t over til the big ball swings!”

Celebrating our own ‘phenomenal women!

Getting together, Making A Difference exhibition opens

North Edinburgh’s Womens International Group launched their eagerly-anticipated Gettting Together, Making A Difference exhibition with song, speeches, films, discusssion and even a little poetry at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre today.

The exhibition highlights the work carried out by local women activists over the years to improve conditions for the people living in ourNorh Edinburgh communities.

The event was all about the importance of solidarity and community spirit, mutual support and the need to keep up the fight to save local services. It’s an argument that was eloquently made in the past by activists like Jenny Marrow, Evelyn Preston, Maureen MacMillan Gwen Crystal and Sandra Purnell -strong voices sadly no longer with us.

You get the impression, though, that the fighting spirit still burns just as brightly in the hearts of our current activists – both the young and the vastly experienced, all of whom packed Royston Wardieburn today. I’m sure Jenny, Evelyn, Maureen – all of them – would have loved this celebration.

Me? I was just proud to be an honorary woman for the day!

More pictures on our Facebook page!

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

MORE PICTURES ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE

Exhibition showcases the talents of our local women

North Edinburgh’s Women’s International Group invite you to their new exhibition which celebrates the many achievements of local women in this community.

The exhibition opens on Thursday at 10am in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre; there’s a free creche and lunch is provided too (please book creche place in advance to avoid disappointment).

For further information contact Lynn on 552 5700 or Rachel on 07891 525 663.

WIG POSTER 18 JUNE final

Getting together. Making a difference.

‘Eye-opening’ year for local community council

Excellent: West Pilton West Granton CC ticks the five ‘E’ boxes

West Pilton West Granton Community Council (WPWGCC) was praised as being a great example of what a good community organisation should be at their annual general meeting in West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre last night.

Eric Dobbie, chair of the recently re-elected Edinburgh Association of Community Councils, said the local community council ticks ‘all the boxes – all the five ‘E’s’: Engagement, Encouragement, Empathy, Environment and Enterprise.

He told the meeting: “We have some good community councils and, frankly, we have some rubbish community councils. We can create better and more effective CCs. What you are doing here is very exciting, and your work is a prime example of how it can be done. I’m really encouraged by how you have gone about this – it’s been quite an eye-opener.”

More than thirty people – including members from neighbouring community councils Trinity, Muirhouse Salvesen and Drylaw Telford – attended the meeting. Guest speaker was Councillor Maureen Childs, who talked about the changing role of community councils in community planning.

Secretary Willie Black told the meeting: “It’s been an eventful year for our community council. We’ve had some criticism but we’ve made quite a difference to the area.”

He went on to detail the active role WPWGCC has played in local initiatives over the last twelve months: bringing community councils together with the North team to stage a regeneration conference was one notable example, and community councillors have been active members of other local groups and organisations. There have been community clean-ups too – local folk have cleared ten tonnes of rubbish in four separate area cleanups!

“This sort of activity is being rolled out across the whole area – it’s a different kind of engagement but local people see the benefits and it gives people some pride”, Willie said. “We are lucky to have a lot of experience on our community council. We have members who work with young people and other members who have vast experience of community activities. That’s a real plus – we know what is happening on the ground.”

However the year was dominated by a rise in criminality and antisocial behaviour across the neighbourhood – and this escalated to reach a peak which saw the attempted murder of a local takeaway owner. The community council again came to the fore.

“Following that incident our usual monthly meeting was changed to become a public meeting to discuss community safety and for local people to voice their fears and concerns. There’s no doubt the senior police officers present at that meeting felt the anger of local people – the #StrongerNorth initiative was born out of this and the community council is still playing a leading role there.”

There’s still a lot of work to be done – Willie referred to the ‘Hanging Gardens of Pilton’ – rooftop vegetation on poorly maintained rented properties – and said the community council is working with others to bring landlords together to discuss issues of common concern. Access to Forthview School is another issue for the community council and WPWG also have some exciting plans to improve job prospects for local people – particularly young people – through the establishment of a community factoring service as a social enterprise.

The community council will be taking meetings out to a variety of venues and locations over the next year in a hope that this will generate more interest, and members will also undertake training to make them even more effective at representing their communities.

“The CC has made a marked difference in our area; we have achieved a lot that we can be proud of over the last year. There is momentum and we will build on that”.

Decisions, decisions: Time for truly local councils?

A meeting taking place in Oban this weekend might just change the way communities engage with politics and politicians. Local democracy needs to change – is it time for a People’s Council?

A grassroots movement created to transform local democracy is to hold an event in Oban this weekend. The People’s Council believes that local democracy in Scotland is broken – and it’s up to people and communities themselves to fix it.

The movement has it’s roots in the west of Scotland, where community activists in Argyll & Bute started the ball rolling. Frustrated by the way their local authority operates, campaigners aim to revolutionise decision-making, taking it back to the local communities themselves. They’ve had enough of the council’s ‘we know what’s good for you’ attitude and believe that decisions made about a community are best made by the people who are affected by them – the people who live there. Sound familiar?

Community campaigners were particularly aggrieved over their local authority’s lack of support for a community buy-out of Castle Toward, their council’s failure to challenge budget cuts and the subsequent cuts to services in their communities that inevitably followed.

Activists began chatting online – and an online community, the People’s Council movement, was formed. It soon became clear that people and communities across the country are also concerned about the state of local democracy, and the decision was made to widen the campaign and make the movement Scotland wide.

The group feels that the structure and ethos of councils, and not just their actions and decisions, must be challenged.

It is calling for fundamental reform of local government in Scotland and have called a People’s Council meeting to look at how this can be achieved.

A People’s Council spokesperson said: “This grassroots event in Argyll is set to challenge the nature of local democracy in Scotland. Scotland may be topping the UK charts in terms of voter turnout at the recent election but there’s still a huge local democratic deficit we need to tackle.

“Join us in Oban on 6 June for this one day event full of speakers, workshops, discussion and action to explore local democracy reform from a grassroots level organised by a collective of community activists from across Argyll.

“Speakers include writer and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch, Common Weal’s Robin McAlpine, Paddy Bort of the University of Edinburgh, campaigner Cat Boyd, local MSP Mike Russell and Councillor Vivien Dance, among others.

“The aim of the event is to plan and organise how people can effect change in our local communities and across Scotland. Everyone knows that local democracy in Scotland is broken. The People’s Council wants to try and fix it.”

Broadcaster Lesley Riddoch has thrown her weight behind the campaign and is one of a number of high profile speakers who will address the People’s Council event on Saturday.

She said: “Scotland has Europe’s largest councils by population and physical size. That means distant decision-making, low levels of participation and constant battles between communities and councils.

“Argyll and Bute Council’s shameful failure to transfer Castle Toward to the local community as agreed was one of the lowest points in the history of Scottish local democracy. But now activists from across Argyll are demonstrating real leadership by deciding to get even – not angry.

“These campaigners have kick-started a process to devise a new workable template of truly local government in Scotland involving folk from all over Scotland – the People’s Councils.

“There’s been support for this novel, grassroots idea at every meeting I’ve spoken at during the election campaign from Assynt in the Highlands to Duns in the Borders. Truly local councils are an idea whose time has come – well done Argyll for getting the ball rolling.”

Independent MSP John Finnie, who will also speak at the Oban event, said: “In far too many local authorities decisions reached indicate just how far, both in terms of geography and mind-set, those charged with representing communities are from what really matters.

“That must and will change as the growing debate around the need to ensure meaningful local democracy, which reflects community aspirations, gathers momentum.”

The event takes place at Oban High School on Saturday 6 June from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Tickets are £10/£7 and can be purchased online from Ticket Tailor, or via www.thepeoplescouncil.org.

A number of free tickets are also available.

Search is on for Scotland’s Real Heroes

STV invites viewers to nominate community heroes

The search for Scotland’s most deserving community heroes is now underway with the launch today this week of the third season of RBS – Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes.

Following the success of last year’s series, which received nominations from across Scotland, STV is calling for people from Edinburgh to nominate the friends, family or community groups who have dedicated their time and effort to helping the lives of others. The public can nominate online at stv.tv/realheroes, by phone and by post.

The new series, presented by Carol Smillie and sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, will air on STV this autumn with viewers across Scotland encouraged to cast their vote for the heroes they believe are most deserving of an award.

Each week, shortlisted nominees will be interviewed by a range of star reporters including comedians Fred MacAulay and Sanjeev Kohli, Elaine C Smith (Burdz Eye View), River City stars Jayd Johnson and Stephen Purdon, Ron Donachie (Game of Thrones) and David Hayman (On Weir’s Way with David Hayman, Shetland) to gain some insight into the inspiring work they do within their local communities.

The overall winners will be announced at a star-studded awards ceremony with the overall final category winners in the running to collect the RBS Scotland’s Real Hero of the Year Award.

Elizabeth Partyka, deputy director of channels at STV said: “We were overwhelmed by the public’s response to the last two series of RBS – Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes and have met some truly inspiring people and groups from across Scotland. We want viewers from Edinburgh to nominate their friends, colleagues, neighbours or local groups so we can shine a light on the real heroes of Scotland that truly deserve recognition.”

RBS: Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes is sponsored by RBS.

Debbie Pow, RBS’s Local Chief Executive Officer, Edinburgh said: “We are delighted to be supporting the third series of RBS: Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes. This is a fantastic way to recognise inspiring individuals who have generously dedicated their time and skills to helping others within our communities in Scotland. Everyone at Royal Bank of Scotland will be getting behind the series and we are all looking forward to finding out more about the finalists when the series airs on STV later this year.”

For more information, visit www.stv.tv/realheroes.

SCDC asks: is your group as effective as it could be?

Are citizens and community groups as effective as they could be? This is the question that is being asked by the Fred Edwards Trust and Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC).

We want to find out if activists have access to the information, tools and skills they need, not just to tackle the issues that matter to them, but to challenge and address the root causes as well.

We would like to know to what extent citizens and community groups who are working on issues of social, economic and environmental justice find the space to help them critically analyse the policies, decisions and systems that affect them.

Our aim in doing this is to find out if more needs to be done to support active and effective citizenship in Scotland. We would be very grateful if you could take a few minutes to respond to the questions in the link below.

Take the survey here

This survey will close on Friday 20 March 2015

Anti-cuts meeting goes ahead tonight

The anti-cuts meeting will take place tonight at 6.30 in Royston Wardieburn Community Centre. We hope to finish by 8pm.

Edinburgh Anti-Cuts Alliance will be there to give us an update on what’s happening in other parts of the city and local councillor Cammy Day will join us after his surgery to answer any questions you might have about the proposed budget cuts and how they will affect our area.

We will then discuss plans for the mass lobby of the Council on 12 February when the budget will be set.

We hope you can join us.

Anna Hutchison
On behalf of WIG (Womens International Group)

We’re no’ playin’ your game!

Community groups unite to oppose council cuts

Community groups, local organisations and concerned individuals have united to protest against imminent council cuts. The say the council’s budget proposals will hit the poorest people hardest and have written to local councillors urging them to support the fight against slashing local services.

Last week’s hastily convened meeting at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre was organised by Women’s International Group and was attended by more than twenty local people – community councillors, management committee members, health service workers and local staff were all there. No councillors were present at the meeting.

WIG’s Anna Hutchison explained that the Women’s International Group had attended a Budget Challenge meeting and were unhappy about the way the consultation exercise was conducted – no-one attended to explain what was being proposed or to answer questions, and the Challenge was being presented as a fait accompli – ‘these are your only options’.

The group also felt it was wrong that local people were being asked to take part in a process to cut services that would pit one area or service off against another, so decided to call a public meeting to gauge the views of the wider community.

“It’s not for us to do the councillors’ work for them”, she said. “We elect councillors to set budgets and run the city. We expect them to listen to us and to protect our precious local services.”

The Council faces a considerable budget challenge. Between 2015 and 2018, the Council’s annual budget will remain around £950 million but the council expects the cost of providing services to be £1.01 billion.

The council says it must make savings of £67 million over the next three years ‘to make sure we can provide the services that are important to the people of Edinburgh’.

Granton and District community councillor Dave Macnab told the meeting: “I’ve been struck by the fact that this budget consultation is almost like a game of Monopoly – except this time you are dealing with real people and real services. This is no game and I think people are sleepwalking into this process. What these abstract proposals mean in reality is cuts on an unimaginable scale”.

He went on: “I am quite disturbed – officials seem to be accepting that this is the way it must be. I would ask: what happens if we say ‘NO’?”

West Granton West Pilton community councillor Willie Black said that recent problems of antisocial behaviour in the area could be traced directly to poverty and unemployment – and that austerity measures, slashed budgets and cuts in local services would make an already bad situation much worse.

He also questioned the council’s figures, suggesting that the scale of cuts is much deeper – not £67 million but £142 million over the next three years.

Willie Black said it was vital that communities combined to fight the cuts being imposed upon them – ‘cuts that are being inflicted on us through no fault of our own, and yet the poor are the people who get the blame’. He said: “Alliances are being formed – we’ve got to put all our energies into a collective effort to challenge these cuts.

“And we’ve got to ask the councillors: in the war against the poor, where do you stand?”

The meeting was then thrown open for debate and discussion. Among the points raised during a passionate and enthusiastic session:

It is unclear what the £67 m in the Council’s budget leaflet represents. It looks like the savings to be made over 3 years is significantly higher than £67m – this needs to be clarified.
There are a number of headings in the Council’s budget paper termed ‘Other’. These sections involve huge sums of money but there is no explanation as to what this relates to. This needs to be broken down so that we can see what it includes.
The savings identified are very confusing – it isn’t clear what they relate to – this should be explained better in a way that lay people can understand
It is impossible to make an informed decision based on this information
The language used excludes people – it is gobbledygook!
The language used attempts to disguise the fact that ‘savings’ are actually cuts – people need to be aware of this.
The Council are asking the citizens of Edinburgh to approve their cuts – this is not
It is disgusting that elected members are not here – they always have excuses for not turning up to important local meetings. Councillors are elected to represent their constituents – we vote for them to do a job on our behalf and they get paid to do it.
Communities are being expected to identify which services they want to cut – this is unacceptable
The consultation is a sham – the decisions have already been made. The same thing happened with the consultation on the closure of Royston Primary School – they didn’t listen to the community then. The facts they presented to local people were proved to be complete nonsense. Can we trust them on the figures we have been presented with this time round?
Councillors and senior officials never put their hands up and admit their mistakes (ie the trams, Royston Primary School, Craigroyston High School)
Community councillors are sent huge amounts of information from the Council – it is impossible to read through it all and often to understand because of the language used. This makes it very difficult for community councillors to present this information in a meaningful way to the wider community
The Council has already sub-contracted services out to private firms (someone received a letter re their single person discount – it was sent from a firm in Derbyshire). This is privatisation by the back door
It is accepted that the Council needs more cash to fund local services and that the council tax freeze isn’t helping the situation. The Council tax needs to be changed to make it more progressive so that the better off pay more.
We are constantly told that events like the Festival and the Hogmanay celebrations are a good investment as they bring extra cash into the city but we never actually see the figures and we don’t see the benefits in our communities. This income should be audited and it should be set aside for local services. There needs to be better transparency in the Council’s financial systems.
Education should be a priority – libraries and community centres are often a starting point for learning – they provide safe spaces in the community for children, young people and adults
Libraries and community centres are fantastic local facilities and provide a great service to all the community.
CLD workers are an important resource in local communities.
If jobs go it won’t be the folk who are high up the tree who go
There have been many examples of serious mismanagement at the Council – the trams project is only The Council are now considering extending the tram line to Leith and paying for another feasibility study. This is a complete waste of public money. Edinburgh has become a laughing-stock around the world because of this fiasco.
Many local organisations refused to display the leaflet publicising this meeting because they said it was political. Some workers are worried that the Council will cut their grants if they are seen to be publicising this kind of event. This position needs to be clarified by the Council.

Impact of cuts

Cuts in local services will result in more crime and anti-social behaviour – this is a false economy as it costs more money to deal with the consequences of crime.
Services for children and young people helps to keep them away from crime – it is more effective to prevent problems from happening in the first place. Cuts in funding to projects who work with hard to reach young people will be a disaster for young people and the wider community. Youth projects are trying to build trust and relationships with young people which can help to steer them away from crime.
Many kids haven’t had a chance in life. Services such as Panmuir House are the last chance saloon for kids who do get into trouble. Close it down and then what happens?
Cuts in services and closures will affect the health and well-being of local people – research shows that going to libraries and museums, taking part in groups and activities improves health – cuts in services will result in more illness and will put more pressure on the system
Cuts in jobs means public sector workers are being asked to take on more responsibilities – this puts people under stress and can lead to them going off sick. They then get pulled up by management and put under more pressure to return to work – this adds to the stress factor.
Workers in the public sector are scared to go off sick these days despite the fact that they have valid sick lines– there has been a change in management culture in public services in recent years (examples given about situation in the NHS)
The next generation in this community will end up even more disadvantaged because of the impact of the cuts
People are already struggling without more cuts to basic services. Many people do not have enough to survive on once the bills are paid. Benefit sanctions are being used to penalize people for minor things (being late for an interview). People are having to go without money and food and having to rely on food banks and support from local services.
High levels of unemployment and poverty in the past resulted in an increase in crime and anti-social behaviour. Many people moved out of the area and this had a negative affect on the people who were left. This is likely to happen again if we don’t have services in place to support people.

The meeting came up with a number of ideas about what the council could do to address budget difficulties:

Introduce a ‘tourist tax’ to bring cash into the city – this could be used to subsidise local services
Introduce a hotel levy during the Festival and the Christmas and New Year Celebrations
Raise the council tax – the Council has the power to do this. They will need to ensure that this does not penalize poorer people.
Reduce expenditure on things like taxi-fares, council lunches, official visits abroad and the like – this is unnecessary expenditure.
Find other ways of making savings that don’t involve cutting services or sacking workers who provide front line services
Dig out the last feasibility study on extending the tram line to Leith – this will save £1/2m.

The meeting agreed to write to local politicians and to forge links with other groups across the city. The North Edinburgh anti-cuts campaigners also plan to meet early in the New Year to discuss sending a deputation to the city council’s budget meeting in February.

If you want to have your say:

Take the budget challenge

But hurry – last day for submissions is tomorrow

Friday 19 December

Background reports:

Budget_proposals_2015_2016_updated_28.10.14

Item_7.3___2015_18_Revenue_and_Capital_Budget_Framework